Specifications Grading - CLAS 199 - S24
The “Grading” System
Learning is what we are here for. I hope you are, too—you will have to make that determination.
I take seriously the research that demonstrates that grades distract from and even obstruct learning. Concerns about grades may also lead us to “play it safe” when it comes to our ideas or our expression of them. Grades can also become a means to simply sort or rank students, and, even worse, that sorting can be based on what opportunities a student has before taking the class rather than what they learn, practice, and develop in a class. Another aspect of grades that we find disheartening is the way they can seem or become adversarial between the teacher and the student.
I want to create a class environment that bucks these trends. I want to encourage you to try something that may not be successful on your first attempt, and learn from that without worrying that it may have a detrimental effect on your course grade. I also want you to realize and exercise your own agency over your learning and over your final grade. Finally, I want to recognize that whenever we are learning or practicing or developing skills, there is labor involved and that this labor is valuable for you.
So how do I plan to manage to accomplish all this, while still giving you an end of semester grade? I plan to adopt a version of specification grading, an assessment system in which assignments are graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory scale. Each assignment will have a pre-circulated rubric for achieving a satisfactory grade. Semester grades will be assigned based on the number and type of satisfactory assignments completed. In this system, grades are not arbitrarily assigned – they are earned by the work that you do. Further, you get to decide exactly how much time and energy you want to commit to the course in order to achieve the grade you desire.
How Specification Grading Works
I want to be clear that no letter/number grade on your assignments does not mean no feedback on them. I will respond to your work, and my hope is that my feedback will be more meaningful to you when a letter or number grade is not present to divert your attention.
Specifications grading also does not mean there are no standards for your work. For each assignment, I will provide detailed guidelines. Your work must meet both the specific details and the spirit of those parameters in order for the assignment to count as satisfactory. The basis for these specifications is based on the expectations and spirit of the work to be done. Since the focus is on your learning, the spirit of each assignment is that you are attempting to grow in your skills in critical reading, in your understanding of race as a historical phenomenon, and the contexts of ancient Mediterranean world, in your writing skills, and in your academic practices and habits, including curiosity, critical generosity, intellectual courage, intellectual honesty and integrity, and intellectual thoroughness.
I also believe that revision is an important part of the learning process. If you earn an unsatisfactory grade on an assignment, you will have ten days upon receipt of our comments to submit a revised version and earn full credit for it.
The Grading Rubric
There are a set of core responsibilities for the course, all of which will have specific guidelines for each one. Completing these responsibilities successfully satisfies the specifications for the standard grade in the course of B+. That is, if you complete these endeavors according to the specified guidelines and the spirit of learning they embody, your course grade will be a B+. It will be lower than that only if you do not complete one or more of the core requirements according to the specifications.
I am making a B+ the standard grade because it is a grade that reflects strong effort and learning. Meeting the requirements for the standard grade will involve your intellectual engagement with the readings and assignments at a fairly high level.
The opportunity to earn a grade of A will involve additional labor. The additional labor will ask you to work more intentionally with theoretical approaches to race throughout the semester and to consider with modern misappropriation of race in the ancient world. I value this additional labor as reflecting learning on a deeper level.
Below is a summary of the quantity and, more importantly, quality of work required to achieve each course grade.
Course Grade of B+ (standard grade):
All of the core responsibilities listed below must be successfully satisfied. Written work is submitted on-time and completed according to the specifications and spirit of each endeavor. Class attendance and participation is engaged and contributes to the class community, with no unexcused absences (see below for more details on engagement).
- Class attendance and engagement
- 10 commonplace book entries
- Creative project #1
- Creative project #2
- Oral exam
Course Grade of A:
All of the core responsibilities are satisfied as above. The additional labor required for an A will be the successful completion of both of the following:
- 3 additional commonplace book entries on theoretical approaches to the study of race (readings and due dates to be chosen in consultation with Prof. Machado)
- A short analysis of a modern misappropriation of ancient ideas about race (requires a successful proposal by March 16 and must be turned in by April 27)
Course Grade of A-:
All of the core responsibilities are satisfied as above. The additional labor required for an A- will be the successful completion of one of the following:
- 3 additional commonplace book entries on theoretical approaches to the study of race (readings and due dates to be chosen in consultation with Prof. Machado)
- A short analysis of a modern misappropriation of ancient ideas about race (requires a successful proposal by March 16 and must be turned in by April 27)
Course Grade of B:
One of the core responsibilities is not completed on-time or not completed according to the guidelines or spirit of the assignment.
Course Grade of C:
Two of the core responsibilities are not completed on-time or not completed according to the guidelines or spirit of the assignment.
Course Grade of F:
Not completing three or more of the core responsibilities on-time or not completing them according to the guidelines or spirit of the assignment will result in a failing grade.